Abstract: A staple having a crown, a deformable leg extending from the crown, and a spring extending from the crown configured to compress tissue between the spring and the deformable member. Owing to the flexibility of the spring, the staple can accommodate a wide range of tissue thicknesses while still compressing the tissue captured therein. As a result, a single staple design can be used in a wide variety of surgical procedures thereby reducing the amount of staple designs that must be provided to the surgeon. In at least one embodiment, the staple includes a crushable member. This crushable member can include a plastically deformable first portion and an elastically deformable second portion. The present invention can also include, in various embodiments, a crown, a first deformable member extending from the crown, and means for compressing the tissue against the first deformable member.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for providing a graphical representation of a business process. According to one embodiment, a method for providing a user-relevant view of a business process can comprise reading a definition of the business process. A determination can be made as to whether a milestone in the business process is relevant to an end user of the business process based on a set of pre-defined milestones for the business process. In response to determining the milestone in the business process is relevant to the end user a visualization of the business process can be generated that includes the milestone. In response to determining the milestone in the business process is not relevant to the end user, a visualization of the business process can be generated that does not include the milestone.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for providing a graphical representation of a business process. According to one embodiment, a method for providing a user-relevant view of a business process can comprise reading a definition of the business process. A determination can be made as to whether a milestone in the business process is relevant to an end user of the business process based on a set of pre-defined milestones for the business process. In response to determining the milestone in the business process is relevant to the end user a visualization of the business process can be generated that includes the milestone. In response to determining the milestone in the business process is not relevant to the end user, a visualization of the business process can be generated that does not include the milestone.